State Blames Mistake For Scare Over Burial Funding

CHICAGO (CBS) — A letter stating that the state of Illinois would no longer pay for burial services for the indigent set off a wave of panic among Illinois social workers, but it turns out the letter was a huge mistake.

The letter sent out last month from the Illinois Department of Human Services said the department would “no longer pay for funerals, burials or cremations for individuals receiving assistance from the state.”

When CBS 2’s Jim Williams started asking about it, state officials said the letter was a mistake.

That mistake forced Joe Linstroth to pull out his credit card to give his friend, Walter Reed, a proper goodbye.

Reed was homeless most of his life, starting when he was only 15.

Linstroth said Reed was “in and out of some nursing homes, but mostly he stayed in shelters and on the street.”

Reed died last week at 77. He had no family; just a friend, Linstroth, his former social worker.

Linstroth said that when Reed died on Friday, he believed that there was not any money available to bury him because of the letter sent out by IDHS.

After getting the letter, many social workers and thousands of family members of indigent Illinois residents wondered how they were going to bury a loved one.